The Toronto Blue Jays have had, to many Blue Jays fans, an underwhelming offseason. Here are the notable moves thus far:
- Exercised RP Chad Green’s 2-year, $21 million club option (Under contract for the 2024 and 2025 seasons)
- Signed P Yariel Rodriguez to 4-year, $32 million deal
- Signed INF/OF Isiah Kiner-Falefa to 2-year, $15 million deal
- Re-signed OF Kevin Kiermaier to 1-year, $10.5 million deal
- Signed DH/1B Justin Turner to 1-year, $13 million deal
The Justin Turner Signing
Justin Turner is meant to be the Brandon Belt replacement. However, Brandon Belt out-performed Justin Turner in OPS and wRC+. It is worth noting that Belt played 40+ less games than Turner in 2023. Turner also had many aspects of his game worsen from 2022 to 2023. For example, Turner’s Walk% decreased by 1.3% while his Strikeout% increased by nearly 1%. It’s a minimal percentage, but still worth noting as he enters his 16th MLB season. His HardHit% decreased from 40.6% to 39% and he was hitting fly balls at a much lower rate than in 2022. For comparison, Belt’s FlyBall% was 48.2%, while Turner’s was 41.4% in 2023.
But why is FlyBall% important when looking at Justin Turner? Well, the Toronto Blue Jays placed 16th in team Home Runs in 2023. For reference, they placed 7th in 2022. Also, the 2023 Texas Rangers won the World Series and they placed 3rd in team Home Runs. In modern MLB, teams need to be able to score via the long ball. That’s why Turner’s FlyBall% is not encouraging when it comes to this need.
More Questions Than Answers
If this is it for the Blue Jays’ offseason, it’s going to be a disappointment. Third base still has many questions. Will Orelvis Martinez or Addison Barger take over the 3B job if Matt Chapman doesn’t return? Will Ross Atkins re-sign Matt Chapman to fill the void? Will Vladimir Guerrero Jr. be able to bounce back to 2021-form in 2024? At this point in time, it seems that there are more questions than answers in the Blue Jays’ building. Justin Turner is a solid player and a beneficial signing, but he’s not a player that will move the needle, especially at 39-years-old.
It’s not enough to simply rely on Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Daulton Varsho, and Alejandro Kirk to all magically bounce back and have elite seasons. If the Blue Jays are done making impact moves this offseason, it will definitely be an uphill battle to even make the postseason.